Monday, July 13, 2009

Not being from the south, I had no idea that this recipe I've been calling southern fried chicken for a long time, was not really southern fried chicken.

It was southern, and it was fried, but the addition of the buttermilk marinade apparently disqualified it from being a true southern fried chicken recipe.

According to my sources deep within the southern fried chicken subculture, real southern fried chicken consists of chicken parts, dredged in seasoned flour, and fried in hot oil until crisp and cooked.

That's it. If any additional steps or ingredients are added, and you still call it southern fried chicken, someone may drop a, "Well, bless your heart" on you. Sounds nice, right? It's not, ask a southerner.

I'll have to try that pure version one day, but I love the tangy tenderization that the buttermilk and associated bacteria provide, so I don't see any reason to change my approach.

Yes, this is a messy project, but there are perks to having a Dutch oven full of oil around for a few days. You already saw the Paczki we made, and you will see a French fry demo soon, so stay tuned.

I decided to show a couple minutes of me cutting up the whole chicken into the classic eight-piece meal. I did speed it up to make it somewhat bearable, so if you need to, go back and watch it a few times to see the nuances of the dissection. Enjoy!

UPDATE! It seems I wasn't clear in the video regarding the temperature. The oil is 350 degrees F. to start, but when the chicken goes in it will drop to about 300. It should rise back to 305-310 and be held at that until done, about 20 minutes. I've added a notation in the video, so hopefully that will help!

192 comments:

This recipe looks fantastic, but I just have one teensy problem: I'm allergic to peanuts. Would you be able to recommend a subsitute oil for frying? I've run into this problem a few times, because apparently peanut oil's high smoking point makes it fantastic to fry anything imaginable. Is there an oil out there for me?

Keep up the great work! Rest assured I have told all my friends about foodwishes.com. Repeatedly.

Part of me wished that this was going to be one of your amazing baked "fried" dishes. Deed fried a small amount of fish with beer batter over the weekend and still managed to make a bit of a mess of the kitchen. Guess theres no way around it for the good stuff.

Chef John! I object! The wingtips are certainly not useless. Toss them in a baggie and stash them in the freezer along with other chickeney bits that would otherwise go in the trash (like the carcass from a roasted chicken) Then you can use it all to make stock.

Looks great, however, as a born and raised southerner...I've always used buttermilk, as that is how my grandmother taught me, and she was also born in the deep south of Georgia. I'm sure you will hear both sides of this, some agreeing and some not, but I will tell you that the buttermilk bath is quite common. Now not using a cast iron skillet and Crisco is another story :)

Need french men to start selling buttermilk. I sometimes use a mix of milk and lemon, but i fear the lemon will vary, especially if i add to much lemon.

And well tbh, I have seen a lot of peope saying they are southerners saying the use buttermilk and bunch who say they dont. And it shouldn't matter I think, every home has their own traditional recipe and the best is whichever you like more.

You can't get more southern than Alabama, born and raised.... And yes, I do say, "Bless your heart," when I want to express my sympathy to someone. This is exactly how I make my chicken, my mother, my grandmother and great grandmother too. We do use the cast iron skillet instead of the dutch oven. This will really give it away but I remember my grandmother catching the chicken in the yard and my grandfather preparing it for dinner. This could give a little girl nightmares. I never ate it when I was little for that reason. Love your recipes. Thanks Chef John.

no fair no fair..!!! everytime i try making fried chicken the batter came out soggy and the thighs are always red and slightly bloody inside :( eventhough i've fried it for 1/2 hour. Furthermore the fried chickens i made look soo charred :(

Chef John.....chicken looks delicious and am anxious to try the recipe myself. Only difference is I have a 10lb bag of assorted chicken parts and was wondering how can I adjust your recipe to fit? As simple as x3 on everything??

Thank you very much for the quick response. I'm assuming the lowfat BM is fine, and I'll try the 24 hour soak and see how it turns out. I hope my chicken is nice and clumpy like the one in your picture. That's the best!

The time of 20 to 25 minutes is absurdly too long. Esp at 350 as you state in the video. I just fried using your recipe only at 325F and the chicken was done in about 12 minutes. It was really too dark but the int temp was at 180 on most but 175 on some. Your video shows a fry therm at well well below 350, more like 200F. What gives?

i think youre looking at the bottom of the needle on the thermometer. The oil was 350, which goes down to about 300 when you add the chicken. Mine was perfect is 20 minutes. Not sure what your problem was(is).

my chicken is now marinating! :D thanks Chef John! and oh...been reading through the comments at the top...they were from last year...people were greeting you a happy birthday...last July 13, 2009...so...that makes your birthday this year...also July 13! happy birthday! lol. i'm lame. thanks again for the recipe! hope i'm successful replicating it. hihi. :D

Chef John - I spent literally three hours last night wading through your blog after Googling southern fried chicken recipes. Not only is yours by far the best sounding and looking one amongst the dozens I found, I have also come to the conclusion, reading through your other recipes, that you are from the James Barber school of easy-going, modest and approachable genius with an enormous reportoire.

Two questions about this chicken recipe - 1) what's your opinion of a brine soak before the buttermilk soak? Obviously you don't use it, but do you think it would add, detract or be completely indifferent to the end result? Several other recipes I've seen swear by it, but the only advantages I can really see with it are tenderising the meat (here done by the buttermilk) and getting some salt in there (is there REALLY any need for extra salt in fried chicken?)2) I LOVE crispy-crispy fried chicken, but here in the UK our "brand name fried chicken" establishments don't offer the extra crispy option. Will the chicken cope with a second dip in the buttermilk and flour, or will it then be way too thick to cook through?

In the meantime, thanks for being generous enough to impart your knowledge on keen home cooks like me who don't have the time or the money (or particularly want to!) to create nothing but michelin star cuisine.

Did the chicken Sunday. I used sour milk. Next time I will double the chicken pieces. We did not feel like we had enough. My daughter said we should have it every three days. Hubby woke Monday morning and from nowhere said, "That chicken was good." The family said they don't mind gaining weight because of eating chicken that tastes so good. I proposed that we have it quarterly. See, I am the one whose body is most affected in the family.......Am thinking about that chicken now. Mmmmmmmmmmmm!

Here is the dope on cooking temperatures for fried chicken using a cast iron skillet.

Start with about an inch of peanut oil heated to about 360 degrees F.

As you add chicken pieces, the temperature of the oil will drop. This is a GOOD thing. Adding about 4 pieces will lower the temperature to around 315 degrees.You want to fry chicken at around 305 to 315 degrees F.If you cook at a higher temperature, the outside of the chicken will get dark before the inside is cooked. Note that "Americas Test Kitchen" on public TV also states that 310 - 315 F is the ideal temperature.

Note that if I put five pieces of chicken in the skillet, the temperature will go below 305, if I put only three pieces of chicken, the temperature will be around 330 degrees. Bottom line is that you need a good temperature probe an constant monioring. If it gets too hot, slide the skillet of the burner.

After awhile, you tell by the sound of the chicken frying if he oil is too hot or too cold.

Hi John. I am curious about the teaspoon of oregano, thyme, rosemary and sage and I noticed someone else had asked about that too. Do you mean one teaspoon of each or a quarter teaspoon of each one? May sound dumb but the recipe doesn't specify. Thanks.

Hi! This recipe looks great. I'll surely try this one. Hope this ends up as it is on the picture. Anyways, I don't have any problems in cooking I have experienced dumpling, dimsum, chinese, japanese, filipino, thai, italian, and european cuisines. I just hope this one is like the hot and cripy of KFC.

I found this yesterday, looks great! I was planning to cook it tonight, but don't have time to let it sit 6 hours. I would be eating at midnight! So I guess I will have to toss this together before work tomorrow instead so it has enough time.

Why six hours? Could I get away with less in a pinch? I have seen other recipes that only call for a couple hours in the milk.

How I can tell Chef John is not a southerner "How often do you make fried chicken, like.. once a year?" LOL I love the fried chicken my mom makes but it looks far too complicated and hard to remember (she goes through a whole salt water brining process etc) so decided to try this one as it looks delicious, mine is in the fridge marinating now, will update on how it turns out.

I am Iranian. I searched the cooking websites for the chicken crispy until I found Foodwishes. I watched your video and I have liked your recipe. I will substitute plain yogurt for the buttermilk. I am gonna make it tomorrow.

I have been wanting to make this recipe for SO LONG! I finally got all the ingredients and made it today... but I burned it ALL! So sad. I was under the impression that I should keep the oil temp at 350 even after adding the chicken. It was done after about 12 minutes, but I didn't trust it and wanted to stick to the recipe. It still tastes OK, but not as good as I had hoped :(

Maybe I'll be brave enough to try again, but for a college student it was a lot of supplies that I don't usually keep around.

I must need to clarify this recipe, since there seems to be some confusion on the temp! the temp drop from 350 to about 300 when u add the chicken. I just added a notation in the video to explain this, but too late for you. Please send me your address to foodwishes@yahoo.com and I will pay you to try this again!

Dear Chef Jonh,I’m from Brazil, and since we don’t have KFC in Brasília and I know the taste from the real one, I have to say this recipe was better! Way much better! My family just love it.To the buttermilk, I use the proportion ¾ of plain yogurt and ¼ of milk. (hope this information help everyone else that don’t have buttermilk in your city)So thanks for this perfect recipe and all the others in your blogI’m a huge fan!Sorry about my terrible English..

Hi there,Regarding the oil. I've read that peanut oil can be easily replaced not only with the canola oil but also with olive oil (similar cooking parameters). Is it true? I mean, will it fit well to this particular recipe?

I'm embarking on this delicious fried chicken journey in a few days and can not WAIT to taste it. My boyfriend has been drooling ever since I mentioned it :D

Question, 2 1/2 quarts canola oil is a LOT of oil to discard. I do not feel comfortable pouring it down the drain but is that OK? What is the best method to throwing out all that oil? I would reuse it if possible, but I also do not know what container is best to store it, all I have is plastic (obviously I would let the oil cool before putting it in plastic) Help!

I perused the other comments to see if you answered this question already, but didn't see it. Sorry if you answered this already.

I just made this delicious chicken 2 days ago and my grown son said it was the BEST fried chicken he has ever had...so step aside, Colonel Sanders, Mom Patterson rules in this house...(with Chef John's help) LOL I have already shared your site with 3 others on Facebook who wanted to know how to make "perfect" fried chicken. Also, a Fry Daddy fryer works well for this, uses only 2 1/2 cups oil and maintains the temp automatically. You do have to do in batches of 3 pieces at a time, but I just kept finished pieces on the jelly roll pan with the rack in the oven at 350 degrees and it stayed nice and crispy and insured the larger pieces were cooked through...this worked best for me as I don't like the coating to get too dark from frying, so finishing off in the oven worked very well.

Chef John,Greetings from Dover, Pennsylvania USA. I tried your recipe as per the video. It was great. Easiest chicken I've ever prepared short of going to Popeye's. Thanks for the great recipe and the instruction video.

So, my first attempt at this was not fabulous. It was still edible, but I need to tinker with the cook time and amount of chicken I fry at once.

When I put in the chicken the dutch oven, the oil temp dropped to 175 degrees and refused to come back up. The chicken started to get dark at around 15 minutes so we took it out, even though I was afraid it would be under cooked. To my surprise, even though the oil temp never came back up, it was cooked perfectly. Besides the crust being a little darker than I would have liked it wasn't horrible.

I will try this again next winter. Now that I know what to expect, I'm sure I'll nail the recipe and have fantastic tasting (and looking) fried chicken.

Hi Chef John, i'm an avid fan of yours!i have a question, In panama we don't have buttermilk, so i will use milk with vinegar, so what can i do with the used "buttermilk"?-Can i reuse it for another batch of chicken-throwh some flour and make some deep fried batter-Or throw it away?Thanks

Hi Chef John. I tried this recipe a week ago and it was delicious. My only problem was... the flour didn't stick to my chicken that well. It had a really thin coat of flour and I was aiming for a crispy fried chicken. Any suggestions on how to achieve that?

I'm new to you site and will be signing up or whatever it takes to be part of the site. I read all the posts for this particular dish and some of the comments I felt were a bit rude and uncalled for and I really like the way you handle those situations, very professorial. 350 is NOT the cook time... you only heat the oil to that temp knowing that when you put the 8 pieces of chicken in the fryer that the temp will drop down to 300-310..... THAT is the cook temp for 20 minutes. And when you offered to pay the women that burned her food that said a lot about you as a person I was wowed. The fact that some people seem to be forgetting is you are here sharing your culinary knowledge, giving your time to this... to us and i just wanted to say even though I'm new to the site I appreciate your time.

Just a quick question about the dish please... I haven't tried it as yet but I would assume that there will be a lot of leftover buttermilk and left over flour mixture. Would I be able to use that to make a nice milk gravy?

Hi Chef John. I tried this recipe a week ago and it was delicious. My only problem was... the flour didn't stick to my chicken that well. It had a really thin coat of flour and I was aiming for a crispy fried chicken. Any suggestions on how to achieve that?

Thanks Chef John!I am a single father cooking for my 2 kids and I've made this chicken recipe a few Sundays in the last couple months. We love it. It's easy and delicious. I was always nervous about fried chicken but this has become one of our favourite meals. I always have chicken left for my childrens' school lunches which they actually EAT! Thanks very much.

Whoever told you that southern fried chicken doesn't use buttermilk as a marinade is WRONG or is trying to mislead you or just makes bland chicken. Chicken + flour + oil = something any average person in America does, and simply doesn't taste very good. I grew up in Alabama and not only did I grow up eating fried chicken, I grew up making it too. You brine the chicken(overnight), then put it in buttermilk, and when you fry it, you fry it in lard. Seasoning varies depending on whether you want it spicy or not. Breading depends on where you are from/taste as well. There's no official way. What we usually did was your typical flour, or flour/cornmeal or flour then buttermilk, then bread crumbs. Sometimes an egg. Southern style chicken fingers are done the same way(but with a thin flour batter).

Hi, Chef John...I just found your web site today...I love fried chicken and KFC or any of the other fast food places can't cook it like my Mama did, but, your video looks so much like hers. I'm in Texas and she always fried hers in a black iron skillet that was deep, probably a dutch fryer. She never soaked hers in buttermilk, but, I do and it makes it taste wonderful!!! I want to make this now....so hungry!!!Thanks for the wonderful videos!!!

Hi Chef :o) Tried this tonight but as I didn't have plain yoghurt I used milk and a little vinegar... worked fine. I used your seasoned flour recipe but marinaded the chicken in my vacuum marinator using the "buttermilk", some kosher salt, sugar, dried chili flakes, onion powder and garlic powder. I tumbled and marinated the chicken for about 30 minutes. Perfect flavour profile when combined with your dredge!! Thank-you so much Chef :o)

I did everything I was supposed to along with the correct oil temps and it was terrible. Burned on the outside & raw in the middle. I've been cooking for 60 years & never had such a fiasco! Does altitude make a difference? I'm at 5000 ft.

Hi Chefin my life I haven't tasted chicken quite as good as this. Since we found your recipe, my husband is knocking out batches of it almost every evening. (you gotta gimme a recipe for weight loss next...ha ha)..I can't wait for our friends to taste it. And your instruction video was so clear to follow...thank Chef......big fans in ireland..

I just discovered your blog today, and I must say I am SOOOOO impressed!!! I can't wait to make this recipe, but I would like to know how long the cook time will be if I am using this as a bases for making chicken wings????

Chef J - saw the video and the outcome looks amazing. Re the issue of brining vs not - definitely should brine as this removes the residual blood from the chicken. The result is a sweeter chicken than you'd get otherwise. Or, one could just use a kosher chicken, which is already soaked and salted and ready to go.

Re peanut oil, it's the best - no peanut flavor as some folks might imagine, and doesn't foam up too much. I get mine in 5 gallon jugs at Costco. If you buy peanut oil in quart sizes at the supermarket, you're going to pay through the nose! At Costco it works out to about $5 per gallon.

I would Like to Thank you for all the WONDERFUL, successful recipes you have posted...I have tried a lot from your web site and every time it turns to be awesome ..My husband loves me 100 times more just because of my cooking now.

ps: I see that someone requested falafel recipe I do have a Excellent one ..that I made today actually if you want me to post it?

hello; I´m Elizabeth, I live in Mexico, and I have two questions for you chef Jhon:1 I dont have buttermilk, and I hear something about milk and lemon juice o venager but i dont have the exact amounts for doing that.

2 I dont have a dutch oven could I use any aluminiun pot or something like that?

If you have a question about the items listed below, please peruse (look through/browse/etc) previous posts. You are more than likely not the only person who has these types of questions and the good Chef John has answered these a few times previously. I must say that he is patient. :-)

I hope that my words are not coming across rudely as I honestly have no intention of that, I just want to help you folks find what is needed and to save on the obvious repetition of requests, which would result in unkind responses on many a blog/help site/forum/etc from experienced members. I know as I have been the recipient of many such. :-)

I didn't deep deep deep fry mine, I used wesson vegetable oil from sams club. Used about an inch and a half in a lodge cast iron skillet. All drumsticks. I've been threatened to make another batch this week or else....

I used coconut milk as a substitute for the buttermilk. Turns out SOOO juicy and tender every time and I promise it does not taste like coconut! Also used canola oil and I don't have a thermometer either so I used the old school method of a wooden spoon in the oil, when it bubbles around it it's ready. Turned it down a bit before I put in the chicken. I was SO excited when I made this as it is the FIRST time my fried chicken has turned out this flaky and crispy! IT is the best fried chicken I have EVER made! I also used skinless, boneless chicken breast and my son ate it without any barbeque sauce or gravy which is HUGE!!! BIG HIT!!! And I have posted this link and website to ALL my friends on facebook!

Some time back, folks were asking about possible oils to use. The Good Eats page http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/collectedinfo/oilsmokepoints.htm helpfully lists cooking oil smoke points. At the temperature recommended here, 350F which falls to around 310F when chicken is added and maintained there, lard or any refined vegetable oil or shortening, except possibly hemp seed oil, would work and not smoke. Smoking means the oil is breaking down (as well as risk of fire).

To the person who was having trouble with the recipe at 5000 feet. High altitude decreases the boiling point of water, leading to things like quickly dried out outer layers of chicken and consequent poor heat conduction to the inside like what you saw, so foods may need to be cooked cooler and longer to compensate for that. Measure what the boiling point of water is where you are, and try using oil that is cooler by at least the same amount that your local boiling point is below 212F, and add a few minutes more cooking time.

I used solid vegetable shortening thinking it would be easier to store the oil later (in the original cans, once cooled down enough to safely pour back, and no messing with a funnel). It worked fine and tasted OK if a bit bland (I would double all spices next time) but looks weird when served as the oil that drips off the chicken promptly re-solidifies on the plate. Liquid oil would doubtless result in a better presentation.

I did two smaller batches of five chicken parts each. Even with that, my 2600 watt large burner strained to keep up the temperature during the first batch. The trick with electric is to turn it to maximum and when the oil hits 350F put the chicken in right away. Then back off the heat very slowly until it gets to 310F and keep watching it from there as the temperature may want to plunge quickly a few minutes into cooking, needing another return to maximum for a few minutes. Also, stir the oil with a long spoon when initially heating; a thermometer clipped to the edge may not have a good reading of the overall temperature and the oil can even start smoking before the thermometer indicates the temperature is high enough. The frying activity keeps the oil well stirred once chicken is added.

This chicken is so ridiculously good. For a show-stopper feast, all you need is Chef John's fried chicken, mashed potatoes, chicken gravy, and homemade biscuits (I usually throw some green beans on my plate too). You've made each component totally accessible and totally amazing!

Born and raised in the South, I can tell you some of my family marinates their chicken in buttermilk and some go with just flour. It's simply a matter of preference. Battered and deep-fried chicken is southern whether you soak it in buttermilk, brine it, or just dust it with flour. And as a formally trained chef from the South, I always either brine my chicken or marinate it in buttermilk. Straight floured chicken tends to be dryer and lacking in flavor. You're right on with this recipe!

I'm making you recipe for dinner tonight. It totally reminds me of the was my grandmother used to make fried chicken on Sundays for our family supper. I'll be sharing this recipe at my blog on July 7th as part of the Crazy Cooking Challenge, and I'll be sure to send lots of love your way for the delicious food.

I tried this recipe and it is so yummmmeeeeee! Only problem is the flour didnt stick with the chicken. How can I have something crispy and flaky coating like what you have here? Really hoping you could help me with this since my children loved it! Thanks Chef John!

I burnt the coating !!!. It over-browned the instant I dunked it. I used a thermometer to mind the temperature. I fried with canola oil over an outdoor gas burner. The pot was aluminium. I did mix some semolina in the flour mix.

are sure you maintained an oil temp of 305-310 as it cooked? It starts at 350, but drops as soon as the chicken goes in. You may have kept yours at 350 the whole way since you had a powerful burner? Please rewatch video for oil temp note.

Hi Chef! Its in the fridge marinating now! we're gonna have a blast at dinner, im sure!

is there anything we can do with the buttermilk after the marinating? it seems like such a waste to throw it it away (esp since i paid MYR 20 for it - roughly USD 6.50 for the two cups needed). Thanks!

First, I really love your YouTube channel!!! Your recipes are great and I love your sense of humour :)

I know this buttermilk fried chicken recipe is from a few years ago, but I saw it again and got me to wondering, what the heck do you do with the oil after you've used it? Do you throw it out? If so, what's the best way to do that?

Just had a quick question with regards to the alternate method of frying you suggested.. I don't have a dutch oven but I have plenty of skillets so I plan on making this with that method. Just wondering what the cooking time is if you choose to flip them in the inch or so of oil? Same length, just flip the chicken exactly halfway through?

I'm a student and I can't always afford culinary tools like an internal thermometer! Because I cannot precisely tell if my oil has hit the 350 mark, is there another way to gauge the heat without a thermometer? Thanks! I appreciate the help!

Hi chef John, love your recipe. But why do you think mine comes out "doughy" sort of bread like instead of that nice crispy brown. In fact this has happened before making other types of fried recipe that involves coating with flour. Thanks!

SoCal Food Lover: Make sure you're using all-purpose flour, not self-rising. Also, you have to wait until the oil is hot before placing the chicken in. Those are the two aspects that come to my mind with respect to your issue. Hope that helps.

Chef John: I've found that dipping chicken into egg whites before applying the coating helps the coating stick better when frying, especially if done in a skillet, where the pieces can easily lose some coating when being turned over.

Thanks Chef John! I will try this later on..and also thanks for the alternatives for the buttermilk because im really not sure if we have that here in the philippines. im using a skillet because we dont have a deep fryer, would that be ok?

@Shalimar Jalmasco - I am not trying to disagree with Chef John at all; his advice is much more qualified than mine. However, simply to share a personal experience of my own -- I live in North Carolina and learned my Southern cooking from grandparents and parents on both sides of my family -- and when I fry chicken, I use a regular 9-or-10 inch iron skillet rather than something deeper. (In my case, it's because I just hate to waste the leftover oil, and I don't deep-fry often enough to use it for another purpose before the leftover bits of food in the oil cause it to spoil.) So, I try to avoid having a whole pot-full of oil to deal with.

I have had success with frying chicken in a regular iron skillet. (I would not personally use any other kind except iron due to the sustained heat we're dealing with.) The trick is, you need the oil deep enough to fry the crust of the chicken, but not so deep that you overflow the pan and start a fire or make a mess. I fill the pan about 3/4 full of melted fat or oil, and then fry in small batches of 3-4 pieces so that I don't overflow.

When I do it this way, the chicken is about 7/8 immersed in the oil with the top sticking out. Halfway through the frying time, I use tongs and flip the pieces over. They are still deeply immersed enough to cook from the sides as well as the bottom, and to fry MOST of the crust at the same time, which is what makes this different than just shallowly pan-frying or sauteing the meat. The only thing that makes this harder than true deep-frying, in my opinion, is that it becomes easier to dislodge the top flour coating, and it can be trickier to get it just-done-enough without overcooking or undercooking, since the sides get cooked twice while the top and bottom only get cooked once. It's definitely possible, though. You just have to practice.

If you are using unusually tall cuts of chicken like some of the breast meat that is available in supermarkets, you may want to slice them in half the "long" way to reduce their thickness (and reduce your cook time a little bit as well... the ever-present danger is burning the outside before the middle is done.) With a deeper vessel, you could probably get away with using bigger cuts of meat whole.

As far as buttermilk goes -- lots of people have mentioned this but no one has given the proportions yet -- you can take regular milk and mix lemon juice or plain white vinegar into it. The way to do this is to use about one tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar (I personally use more like 2 teaspoons, but most books and my grandmother call for a tablespoon so that's what I'll say here) for each cup (8 ounces) of milk. You mix them together and then let it "stand" for five to ten minutes. The milk will have thickened when you go back to use it, and it is close enough to buttermilk for cooking purposes. It's not ideal, but it works.

One final word of caution to anyone who has read this far down in the comments. Buttermilk is *not* the same thing as milk that has gone bad due to age. I saw someone above say they used "sour milk" and was quite concerned that this might be what they were referring to. That would be disgusting, I would think, and possibly dangerous.

Chef John, you said it was ok to marinade overnight (longer than the recommended 6 hrs) but is there such a thing as over-marinading this recipe? We're talking longer than overnight... I imagine it'll make the chicken more savory = more flavorful, which can't be a bad thing, can it?

This is my go-to technique now for fried chicken. I spice it up more with a good dose of sriracha, a dash of smoked paprika and some adobo instead of just salt, but I like it spicy. Seasoning is personal taste and this recipe is awesome as presented while still being something to riff on!!

WOW! Just made this chicken for the family. Crispy on the outside tender and juice on the inside. The best chicken I have ever made. Thanks Chief John! You amazing. *The only thing I did add to flour was crushed up corn flakes to give it that extra crisp outside.

I'm a chef and an owner. I grew up eating fried chicken cooked by great cooks that learned from great farm gal cooks, and I have NEVER heard of frying chicken for 20 minutes. It's made up. The longest a thigh would ever be in the grease might be 14 minutes depending on size.

I live in Saudi Arabia and have substituted what the Arabs call "Laban" for buttermilk, and it's turned out pretty good!

Those of you outside the USA, if you can find an Arabian/Lebanese market, see if you can find Laban! Tastes just like (and has consistancy of) yogurt thinned with milk (just like how Chef John explains), and the chicken turns out just fine! I've used both full fat and low fat and I can't tell the difference. Seems like all the big yogurt makers here in the Middle East (including Dannon/Activia) make laban, so if you don't have buttermilk, just letting you know what worked for me!

In Japan/Korea, they do have buttermilk in some of the high-end department stores, but I've always used plain yogurt stirred until loose and added milk until it's a pour-able consistency. (Cheaper that way)

I add 1 Tbsp of corn starch/flour to the regular flour for some extra "crunch."

P.S. I always fry in 2 batches since I don't have a pan deep enough and then a batch of potatoes cut up with an apple corer in the same oil while I'm waiting for the chicken to cool, but after the chicken there's these small black pieces of batter that float around and can't be collected by a mesh strainer. Anyone have any ideas on how to "clean" the oil between frying batches?

Hey John,I'm a 65-year old, third generation Texan and there's nothing wrong with calling this "Southern" Fried Chicken. Yes, my grand mother likely used only S&P/flour to fry...and, we ALWAYS had buttermilk; bet not too many can say that! Anyway today we have more, and continue to learn how to do things better. I made this recipe last night and it was wonderful - a fantastic crispness! The only alteration was no sage for us!You are indeed my all-time favorite chef and mentor!!Thanks,John Warren Texas

I tried making your Buttermilk Fried Chicken, but it turned out looking like barbecued chicken. For some reason, the flour did not stick to the chicken - I don't know why.

I followed most of the procedure in the recipe except for deep frying. I shallow fried it.

And also, a question about the buttermilk, the buttermilk that I bought was powdered (I added water as per instructions in the container). Is there a liquid buttermilk? Is that why the chicken turned out to be like barbecued?

And also, maybe my chicken were too wet from the buttermilk marinade before I coated them with the flour mixture?